Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Compleat Gentleman: 10 Favorite Quotes

There is a book called The Compleat Gentleman (2009) on what it means to be a gentleman. To be honest, I found a good deal of it boring, but it did have some good bits. Here are ten of my favorite quotes:

1. "He is a man who stands up for others - sometimes even for his enemies - often when those others have no clue that he is there for them."

2. "Most of the time a gentleman is just a mild-mannered fellow whom folks may take for granted. But when the job of saving the world comes up, there's a change in the man."

3. "There is simply no substitute for strength of character, and in boys, or men, this requires two things increasingly rare in our time: knowledge of the past and a vision of the future."

4. "The process of character development begins and matures in the home."

5. "Protect the weak and less fortunate."

6. "He is also a man of silence, a man reconciled to his own death."

7. "A gentleman is dedicated to the virtue of goodness. He believes he ought to do the right thing."

8. "He respects her, listens to her, and does all that he can to give her what she desires. This is true in terms of her existential ambitions, and it is equally - if not especially - true of her physical needs."

9. "Some of the most important things about a man are the things he keeps from most people all the time and from those closest to him until the time is right."

10. "'A gentleman,' Confucius said, 'is distressed by his own lack of capacity; he is never distressed at the failure of others to recognize his merits.'"